It’s 2017, and the influencer marketing boom is here to stay. In India, the major social media platforms used for influencer marketing are Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. In a calculated way, LinkedIn is making it’s way into influencer marketing as well. Why Snapchat isn’t on the list yet is because brands are looking for performance on collaborated posts. Currently, Snapchat doesn’t offer that because of the disappearing act of the content, which is the USP that made Snapchat famous in the first place.

How do you know if influencer marketing is working for your brand?

Influencer marketing has quickly become a top marketing strategy. However, it means very little if the performance of each influencer and their content pieces are not being measured in terms of money spent and impressions gained. While it looks great to have a prominent influencer engaging with your brand and creating a social media buzz, it does not mean much if it reaches below 10,000 people for a person with a following of over 400,000.

A sweeping view of the monthly users active on each social media platform

Facebook is a platform that understood this early and created a tool to make life easier for brands engaging in influencer marketing. They created the Handshake model, where an influencer can tag the brand page on a post created for them. This way, the brand has access to the metrics of the post. They can now analyse the performance of the post without being dependant on the influencer.

How crossposting of branded content works on Facebook

Instagram is arguably one of the platforms that holds the largest potential for influencer marketing. However, brands are limited to viewing the number of likes and comments on the post. This is data that anyone can have access to if they simply view the post! This tracking mechanism not only lacks insight, it is also unreliable because influencers with fake followers or access to Bots can also increase numbers on their post. One does not know where the numbers are coming from. This makes it difficult for brands to distinguish fake influencers versus those who have tirelessly built a strong following from ground up with quality content, hence having a much stronger and actual relevant reach.

All spammers do is create useless noise on social media

Instagram joins the tracking bandwagon for branded content

It’s 2017 and things have finally changed. Instagram has opened up the branded tag option to India! This feature is just as simple as Facebook’s branded content option. To recap, Facebook defines “branded content as a creator or publisher's content that features or is influenced by a business partner for an exchange of value. FB policies require creators and publishers to tag their business partners in their branded content posts. When tagged, a business partner will be notified and be able to see high-level performance insights as well as have the ability to share the post to their Page and put additional spend behind it.”

Now the same is possible with Instagram. All that the influencer has to do is tag the brand handle before posting the content piece. The brand accepts the notification, and voila! Every detailed insight required to determine the success of a post will be accessible with one tag. Easy tracking of influencer marketing campaigns has become a reality.

Proud collaborations between influencers and brands

Instagram tells us more about the insights available to creators : “Not only is this level of transparency beneficial for our community, it also gives creators and businesses the ability to track and share insights around a partnered post. When the partners use this tag, they will both have access to insights to track exactly how their branded content posts and stories are performing. Creators will continue to see metrics in their Instagram insights, and business partners will see shared reach and engagement metrics in their Facebook Page Insights.”

NOTE: Currently, however, branded tagging on Instagram can only happen between two verified accounts in India.

You can now be an active part of your influencer campaign and track all the influencers under one roof with Instagram’s branded tag option. Pick the best influencers you believe can take your brand forward and go from being just a brand to a name that people see in action - everywhere.